March 20, 2008

Abstract: (Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Britain’s main opposition party has increased its political clout this month, according to a poll by ICM Research published in The Guardian. 42 per cent of respondents would back the Conservative party in the next election to the House of Commons, up five points since mid-February.

(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Britain’s main opposition party has increased its political clout this month, according to a poll by ICM Research published in The Guardian. 42 per cent of respondents would back the Conservative party in the next election to the House of Commons, up five points since mid-February.

The governing Labour party is second with 29 per cent—down five points in a month—followed by the Liberal Democrats with 21 per cent. Eight per cent of respondents would vote for other parties.

In June 2007, Gordon Brown officially became Labour leader and prime minister, replacing Tony Blair. Brown had worked as chancellor of the exchequer. Blair served as Britain’s prime minister since May 1997, winning majority mandates in the 1997, 2001 and 2005 elections to the House of Commons.

Since December 2005, David Cameron has been the leader of the Conservative party. In October 2007, Cameron challenged Brown to call a snap election, but the prime minister later announced he would not hold an early ballot.

In December 2007, current parliamentarian Nick Clegg became the new leader of the Liberal Democrats, defeating environment spokesman Chris Huhne in a leadership ballot by just over 500 votes.

Earlier this month, Cameron unveiled his party’s proposals to achieve high levels of corporate social responsibility in Britain, saying that the Tories can be both "pro-business" and "also passionate about responsible business." The party is urging companies to create voluntary mechanisms to tackle social problems, ranging from poverty to obesity.

On Mar. 18, David Frost, director-general of the British Chambers of Commerce, criticized Cameron’s ideas, saying, "I just don’t think politicians get it. What starts as voluntary ends up with a regulatory framework. (...) Most businesses are already taking on vast amounts of social responsibility."

The next election to the House of Commons must be held on or before Jun. 3, 2010. Sitting prime ministers can dissolve Parliament and call an early ballot at their discretion.

Polling Data

If there were to be a general election tomorrow, which party do you think you would vote for?

	Mar. 16	Mar. 13	Feb. 17
Conservative	42%	40%	37%
Labour	29%	31%	34%
Liberal Democrat	21%	20%	21%
Other	8%	10%	8%

Source: ICM Research / The Guardian
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,003 British adults, conducted from Mar. 14 to Mar. 16, 2008. No margin of error was provided.